Producers Guild Nominations Are Mostly Predictable With a Few Pleasant Surprises

2011 may be over, but its award season is still in full swing and the latest Hollywood cabal to announce their candidates for awards glory is the Producers Guild of America. As our own awards expert, Erik Childress, pointed out this morning, once a film receives a PGA nomination its chances of an Oscar nomination rise substantially. So while there are some obvious Oscar locks in contention here, like The Artist, The Descendants and The Help? with only a few surprises (Bridesmaids, for one), perhaps worth paying more attention to are the titles missing from the list.

On the live-action theatrical front, the PGA threw no love to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Tree of Life, J. Edgar, or Drive. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 also received no nomination, which means don't expect a Return of the King-stylerecognition for the end of the Potter franchise on the big screen come this year's Oscars. On the animated front, Winnie the Pooh, Rio, Mars Needs Moms and Arthur Christmas just weren't up to snuff, though none of those snubs are particularly egregious.

Oddly the biggest surprises on the list are the inclusion of the music documentaries Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest and The Union, which haven't received a ton of awards buzz so far this season. And though it's already out of Oscar contention, the PGA did recognize Senna, a terrific documentary about the life of the famous F1 racer, which it's worth noting is not available on DVD in the US, but is now available on Netflix Watch Instantly (hint hint).

The PGA announces their winners on January 21st.

Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:

The Artist
Producer: Thomas Langmann

Bridesmaids
Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend

The Descendants
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Producers: Cean Chaffin, Scott Rudin

The Help
Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green

Hugo
Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese

The Ides of March
Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver

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